- The orange economy includes a growing array of sectors mainly focused on the creation, ideation, production, and penetration of creative goods and services.
- The growing symbiosis with the digital economy has expanded the penetration and value of the orange economy.
- More African countries are revving their digital entrepreneurship and creative space to generate employment and spur economic growth in a continent brimming with talent.
What is the orange economy
The idea of the creative or orange economy is evolving. A proper definition builds on the interlink between human creativity, ideas, intellectual property, knowledge, and technology. It covers all the industries arising from creative activities. Moreover, the idea of the creative economy is closely connected with the “knowledge economy.” The knowledge economy is a significant driver of endogenous growth through human capital investment.
Orange economy definitions vary significantly between regions and international organizations. The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) defined the orange economy as “the group of activities through which ideas are transformed into cultural and creative goods and services whose value is or could be protected by intellectual property rights (IPRs).”
According to John Howkins, the orange economy incorporates industries whose goods and services arise from intellectual property. These include research and development, radio and TV, visual and performing arts, publishing, advertising, music, software, gaming, design, film, crafts, architecture, fashion, and design. Artists, cultural non-profits, and creative businesses can produce and disseminate goods and services that generate jobs, revenue, and quality of life.
UNCTAD defines creative industries as cycles of creating, producing, and distributing goods and services that use creativity and intellectual capital as primary inputs. They comprise a set of knowledge-based activities that produce tangible goods and intangible intellectual or artistic services with creative content, economic value, and market objectives.
The orange economy concerns itself not just with the arts or cultural preservation but with inspiration anywhere it can or may manifest. It includes an expanding array of industries primarily focused on the ideation, creation, production, and proliferation of creative goods and services.
Creativity as the principal axis of the orange economy
According to the book “The Creative City” by Charles Landry and Franco Bianchini, creativity represents a state of mind that allows “thinking a problem afresh and from first principles; experimentation; originality; the capacity to rewrite rules; to be unconventional; to discover common threads amid the seemingly disparate; to look at situations laterally and with flexibility. These ways of thinking encourage innovation and generate new possibilities.”
Creativity strives to resolve economic, scientific, and artistic challenges. Thus, creativity is beyond a talent in the abstract but a practical factor in the global economy. Creativity helps in accelerating innovation and generating wealth. Moreover, it is the principal axis of the cultural and creative industries. These industries are the most significant pieces of the orange economy. This sector generates thousands of jobs and can contribute to the prosperity of the African continent.
Thus, creativity goes beyond being a component associated primarily with artistic creation. Creativity has increasingly become understood as a crucial economic resource for new technologies globally.
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The growth of the orange economy
The orange economy has been increasing its importance in countries’ GDP globally. The increasing symbiosis with the digital economy has expanded the penetration and importance of the orange economy. Various products and services take advantage of the increasing penetration of the internet and disruptive technologies. Consequently, the orange economy has gone digital not only at the service level but also at the product level.
At the same time, several disruptive technologies, including big data, virtual reality, blockchain, and artificial intelligence, are fostering and facilitating the consumption and marketing of creative services and products. These technologies have also increased the resilience of segments of the creative economy.
This new creative digital ecosystem has expanded the frontiers of the orange economy at a global level. More than ever, new platforms and the creative economy are converging, expanding the frontiers and dimensions of where and how content is produced and consumed.
The orange economy is one of the sectors that have expanded the most globally, increasingly responding to a larger share of countries’ economies. According to UN estimates, the global orange economy contributes to close to 6.1 per cent of the global GDP.
Moreover, creative industries are estimated to generate annual revenues close to $2 trillion annually. Creative industries worldwide create close to 50 million jobs. In the U.S., the creative economy generates revenues of $877 billion, creating close to 4.6 million jobs.
The orange economy employs millions of workers from different social strata and levels of education. Thus, the creative economic structure is inclusive. Consequently, it profoundly impacts and fashions a creative middle class that fosters economic democracy in many countries globally.
The orange economy in Africa
More African countries are revving their creative and digital entrepreneurship space to create jobs and spur economic growth in a continent brimming with talent. Consequently, Several countries have made significant strides in harnessing the power of their orange economy.
Almost every country has set policies to ratchet up the sub-sectors of Africa’s orange economy: music, publishing, advertising, performing arts, fine art, television, and radio. Others are interior design, game development, architecture, visual communication design, fashion, movies, animation, video, photography, crafts, and culinary arts.
African artists have made the region’s culture known in many corners of the planet. Artistic, musical, and literary creativity have crossed borders and delighted people globally. And beyond the undisputed strength of these forms of creativity, economic and scientific creativity have also become visible through different inventions.
For instance, the creative renaissance is happening in the continent’s biggest economy, Nigeria, where the sector is primed to produce more than 2.7 million jobs by 2025, according to the Mastercard Foundation.
That is way more than the number of people employed in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, with 65,000 direct jobs and about 250,000 jobs in non-direct employment. Moreover, the industry will plug more than 12 billion US dollars into the West African state’s GDP in the forecast period.
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Solving unemployment
Several reports have highlighted the economic potential of the orange economy in Africa, where the entertainment industries have made global inroads. Consequently, across the continent, government policy has shifted towards the creative sector as a panacea for unemployment as the governments look to tap into Africa’s most significant asset: the youth. Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria, and other African states have ICT, Innovation, and Sport or Youth Affairs ministries.
According to UN estimates, women workers make up nearly half of the workers in the orange economy. Moreover, these industries employ more people ages 15-29 than any other sector.
The estimates further show that television and the visual arts make up the most prominent industries of the orange economy in revenue. Visual arts and music are the most significant in employment creation.
Great potential in arts, culture, heritage, and film
Intergovernmental organisations have also recognised the power of Africa’s orange economy. The African Union declared 2021 the year of “Arts, Culture and Heritage: Levers for building Africa we want” to highlight the “significant contribution culture and the arts can make to socio-economic development, poverty alleviation, job creation and social inclusion.”
In 2021, UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay, in conjunction with distinguished film-makers Mati Diop and Abderrahmane Sissako, presented “The African Film Industry” publication, the first-ever complete mapping of the continent’s film and audio-visual industries.
Africa’s film industry employs an estimated 5 million people and accounts for $5 billion in GDP across Africa. UNESCO forecasts the film industry to create over 20 million jobs. Moreover, the industry will contribute $20 billion to the continent’s combined GDP in just a few years.
Moreover, per UNCTAD figures, the global exports of creative goods represented $524 million in 2020. Global exports of creative services reached $1.1 trillion.
Conclusion
People have often associated the global future with technological advancements and cutting-edge tools, including automation and artificial intelligence. Consequently, the orange economy focuses on employment, income generation, and economic growth stemming from inspiration. Creative inspiration has interestingly found new life thanks to technological advancements.
Moreover, the orange economy has significant economic benefits. It contributes to value and wealth creation, generates employment, and makes a social impact. The creative economy offers a feasible development option to all countries and, in particular, to African economies.
The orange economy presents a remarkable opportunity for Africa’s economic growth and development. As such, governments should continue investing in the creative and cultural industries. This will help African nations stimulate economic growth, preserve their cultural heritage, promote social inclusion, and create jobs. With the right strategies and policies, African artists and creators can tap into the immense potential of their creative expressions. Consequently, they can contribute to the continent’s economic growth. As Africa continues to rise globally, its creative spirit can shine ever brighter on the world stage.
